By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, MAR 04, 2021: BENGALURU and Shimla have emerged as the best cities on the ease of living parameters according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs' Ease of Living Index 2020.

The index results announced on Thursday rank 49 cities with a population of more than a million, and 62 with less than a million people, along with all the cities under the Smart Cities Programme. The assessment exercises was carried out last year, just before the lockdown in March, said the ministry.

The Ease of Living Index (EoLI) is an assessment tool that evaluates the quality of life and the impact of various initiatives for urban development. With Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi emphasising ease of living along with the ease of doing business as a key policy priority, the rankings shape government policies and expenditure priorities.

Bengaluru emerged as the top performer in the million-plus category, followed by Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat and Navi Mumbai. Bareilly, Dhanbad and Srinagar were among the lowest ranked.

In the less than million category, Shimla was ranked the highest in ease of living, followed by Bhubaneshwar, Silvassa, Kakinada and Salem. Namchi, Satna and Muzzafarpur had the lowest scores.

The first edition of the index was launched in 2018 and the current assessment uses 49 indicators under 13 categories across the pillars of quality of life, economic-ability and sustainability.

The assessment also incorporates the views of 32.2 lakh residents on city administration through a Citizen Perception Survey. Bhubaneshwar had the highest CPS score, implying best citizen experience of the city in terms of service delivery, followed by Silvassa, Davangere, Kakinada, Bilaspur and Bhagalpur.

"The EoLI primarily seeks to accelerate India's urban development outcomes, including the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The findings from the index can help guide evidence-based policymaking. It also promotes healthy competition among cities, encouraging them to learn from their peers and advance their development trajectory," said the ministry.

The government also announced the Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2020 to examine local government practice in municipalities across areas of services, finance, policy, technology and governance.

In the million-plus category, Indore emerged as the highest ranked municipality, followed by Surat and Bhopal, while New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) emerged as the leader in the less than million category, followed by Tirupati and Gandhinagar.

The MPI examined the sectoral performance of 111 municipalities, with Delhi being assessed separately for NDMC, and the three Municipal Corporations, across five verticals which comprise of 20 sectors and 100 indicators in all totality.

"Both the indices represent an attempt to gauge the performance of cities across India on various parameters of urban living. The Ease of Living Index encapsulates the outcome indicators while the Municipal Performance Index captures the enabling input parameters," said the ministry.